Falling for the Gun-Toting Accountant

5. Summer's Assignment

She took her time getting back home, but she wasn't angry at Ba anymore. He was just being himself. She should have known better than to cajole him into trying something different.

As she expected, the downstairs was dark when she arrived. He'd gone upstairs to his room early instead of waiting for her like he normally did. Probably wanted to avoid her. It was just as well. She didn't really want to talk to him either. In the back of her mind, though, she wondered how long it took him to climb the stairs if he was in pain. Not that he would have accepted her assistance anyway.

Old goat.

A quick glance at the kitchen counter confirmed that the contraband cookie remained untouched, right where she left it. She was tempted to eat the thing herself, just to get rid of it, but decided to leave it there instead. She'd figure out what to do with it later.

She was in bed reading up on the latest tax law revisions when her mind wandered back to her foray into the tree lot. The Layton Christmas Tree Farm had not been at all what she'd expected. Summer had thought maybe hay rides or apple cider was supposed to cheer her up. Instead, she'd encountered one fascinating Holly Layton. She was adorable, charming, passionate about trees, and apparently good at reading people. She wouldn't mind having tea with the woman to learn more about her.

The thought made her smile.

What would her father think, though? Her love life was never a topic of conversation, much less her sexuality. She had no idea what he thought of gay people. Would he be all right with his daughter dating other women, or would the news kill him before the cancer could?

Her smile faded.

Maybe she could have tea with Holly in her dreams.

***

As soon as Summer walked out of the elevator the next day at the office, she was ambushed by her supervisor.

"Elaine went into labor early!" Ever in a state of semi-panic, Toni pushed her braided hair away from her face. "I need you."

Used to her daily near-meltdowns, Summer breezed past her. "Good morning to you too."

Toni fell into step beside her. "She scheduled her maternity leave, but that's not supposed to be until a month from now. I need to distribute some of her more urgent cases. Starting with this one." She hefted a thick manila folder in front of Summer.

Summer stopped walking and stared at it. "Why does it look like a dictionary?"

"It's been dragging on for months." She raised the folder higher, as if Summer had trouble seeing it. "Lucky you."

"Lucky me." Summer took the folder and did her best not to curl her lip at the coffee stain on top.

"You're a life-saver," Toni said with an exhale. Her eyes darted to one side. "Oh! Rodrigo! Just the guy I need to talk to."

The supervisor scurried off before Summer could say anything else. She shook her head and went to her cubicle, dumping her messenger bag on her desk and the folder on top of it with a thump.

The sound of an office chair rolling backward made Summer look up.

"Boy or girl? We have a pool going." Jerry, her balding cubicle neighbor, pushed his glasses up and waited for an answer.

Summer's brow crinkled. "What are we talking about?"

"Elaine's baby! Get with the program here."

"Since when do you care about other people's babies?"

"Since baseball season ended ages ago. I need something else to make wagers on."

"Right." Football was in full swing, but she let Jerry pretend to be a die-hard sports fan.

"Ugh, you got stuck with the Layton case?" Jerry pointed his chin at the tome on Summer's messenger bag.

Summer's heart actually skipped a beat. "The-the what?"

"Elaine's been moaning about it for months. Kept getting the runaround when she tried to talk to someone at that place. 'Talk to our CPA,' they'd tell her, but the guy never responds. It's like he's disappeared." Jerry waved a hand through the air like magician. "If you ask me, I think Elaine had her baby early just to foist this case on someone else. Glad it wasn't me."

"Oh." Summer's thoughts were spinning too much to respond with anything else. This had to be a coincidence, right? Wasn't Layton a common surname? Yes, it had to be. She couldn't possibly have been thinking of Holly hard enough to cause this unfortunate kismet to happen.

Not getting the reaction he was hoping for, Jerry said, "You've got this, though. You're the office rock star. I mean, you didn't even bat an eye. Good luck!" He rolled back into his cubicle.

"Layton," Summer mumbled under breath, eyeing the folder with both curiosity and trepidation. What kind of mess was in this folder anyway?

She made herself comfortable, opened the file, and began reading.

Uh oh, looks like some troubled waters ahead. Let's bolster this boat with some votes...